Matthew 28:19 - Line Upon Line
The Sapphire Review Vol. 2 | No. 37 • August 1, 2025
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”
(Matthew 28:19, KJV)
THE BIBLE, OR TRADITION AND THEOLOGIANS
How are we to understand what is being communicated by this controversial verse of scripture? Why, a line upon line study of the terms, of course!1
This verse is often used as a proof text for the trinity doctrine regarding the nature of God as being three coeternal and coequal beings, but is this really what Jesus had in mind through these words? We must be careful that we use only scripture and what scripture actually says to define our doctrines, rather than leaning upon tradition and the words of theologians as the basis for our understandings. What we can determine from this verse, as it pertains to the above, is that there is a Father, there is a Son, and there is a Holy Ghost.
In today’s world, not looking to extra-Biblical sources is easier said than done, and it is an all too easy trap to fall into. Most of us have likely been guilty of this (myself included) at some point in our lives.
Let us begin…
DEFINING THE TERMS
We have before us a command to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
One of the first steps to understanding any scripture is to define the terms that are presented. How shall we define them? Not by traditions nor by the words of learned men, but by using the Bible itself as its own dictionary and expositor. With each term, we will also look for two or three witnesses, so that the matter may be clearly established.2
What is “the Father”
Answer: The one and only true God
1st Witness: Jesus Christ
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3, KJV)
2nd Witness: Paul the Apostle
“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” (1 Corinthians 8:6, KJV)
What is “the Son”
Answer: The only begotten of God the Father
1st Witness: Jesus Christ
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16, KJV)
2nd Witness: John the Apostle
“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9, KJV)
What is “the Holy Ghost [Spirit]”
Answer: The spirit OF God the Father and OF Jesus Christ His Son
As the Spirit of God
1st Witness: Matthew the Apostle and Luke
“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:” (Matthew 3:16, KJV)
“And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22, KJV)
2nd Witness: Paul the Apostle
“Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” (1 Corinthians 12:3, KJV)
As the Spirit of Christ
1st Witness: Peter the Apostle
“Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” (1 Peter 1:11, KJV)
“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:21, KJV)
2nd Witness: Paul the Apostle
“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:5, KJV)
“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” (Galatians 4:6, KJV)
The “Spirit” [Holy Ghost] is synonymous with the “Spirit of God” and is synonymous with the “Spirit of Christ”
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Romans 8:9, KJV)
RESTATING WITH DEFINITIONS INSERTED
Now that we have defined each of these terms, we can plug the meanings of them into our verse to enhance our visual reading and understanding of the words.
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father [one and only true God], and of the Son [only begotten of God the Father], and of the Holy Ghost [Spirit of God and of Christ]:” (Matthew 28:19, KJV)
BAPTIZING IN THE NAME
Next, let us observe that the word “name” in this verse is singular, not plural. Additionally the words that follow as being related to the name (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) are not names but titles.
If there is to be an actual literal name that is to be used in baptisms, does scripture give us any indications as to what this name might be, or are we simply to use these generic titles as though they were a name? Scripture indeed tells us that it is the literal and actual name of “Jesus Christ” that is to be used when administering baptisms.
Let us again consider our witnesses for baptizing in “the name of Jesus Christ”:
1st Witness: Peter the Apostle
“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38, KJV)
2nd Witness: Philip the Apostle
3rd Witness: Paul the Apostle
“Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 19:4–5, KJV)
Thus baptizing in the literal name of “Jesus Christ” is synonymous with the declaration in Matthew 28:19 to baptize in the name “of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Furthermore, we see that the apostles themselves, within mere days of Jesus imparting this message to them, understood that, rather than using titles, this was to be carried out in application with the actual and literal name of “Jesus Christ.”
We also see in scripture that being baptized “in the name of” is synonymous with being baptized “into.” This deeper meaning comes through the testimonies of the Apostle Paul, who baptized “in the name of the Lord Jesus,”3 and later wrote to the Roman and Galatian churches about them being baptized “into” Jesus Christ.4
SCRIPTURAL HARMONY
Furthermore, the significance of Matthew 28:19, in the way that it is worded, harmonizes beautifully with the rest of scripture when we consider the following:
Jesus came in the name of the Father.5
The Holy Ghost is sent in the name of Jesus.6
Jesus and the Father are one.7
We are to be one as they are one.8
Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Jesus.9
We are to abide in Jesus and Jesus in us.10
Jesus and the Father abide with us.11
Before the foundation of the world,12 Christ received a glory of being one with the Father. This glory (of being one - now in Christ) is what Jesus gives to us.
“And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:” (John 17:22, KJV)
Being “one” is synonymous with being “in” another while the other is “in” us.
John 17:21–23 (KJV)
21That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
HOLY GHOST
How is this glory of being one and of being in Christ and of having Christ in us carried out? It is by the Holy Ghost that these things are so. The Holy Ghost as… the Spirit of God… the Spirit of Christ, - or to think of it in another way - the personal presence of the Father and of the Son with us and in us.13
We are in Jesus Christ and He is in us by the manifestation of His personal presence14 in and through the Holy Ghost. This is the communion that is spoken of the Holy Ghost15 - the riches of the glory of the manifest presence of Christ in us, the hope of glory.16
CONCLUSION
The Father and the Son are distinct and separate beings, and yet they are united and joined by Spirit. The glory that we receive when we are baptized into the Father, and the Son by the Holy Ghost17 is that they (the Father and the Son) then abide with us (through the Holy Ghost), and we can be one, as they are one.
1 John 4:2-3
Hereby ye know the Spirit of God [Holy Ghost]: that which confesses that Jesus Christ has come and literally manifested Himself in our flesh - by His Spirit, the Holy Ghost.18
Hereby ye know the spirit of antichrist: that which confesses not that Jesus is literally come into our flesh by His spirit, but rather another distinct and separate person altogether has entered in.19
God Bless,
Charles
